Can the U.S. Military Handle Both China and Russia? By Aaron Mehta, Defense News: “The Pentagon is in the opening stages of “redesigning the force” around the challenges of Russia and China, the department’s No. 2 uniformed official said Tuesday — while warning that America may not be able to afford preparing for two unique problem sets."

Strategic Innovation and Great Power Competition By Elsa B. Kania, Strategy Bridge: “At this time of disruptive transitions, the new U.S. National Defense Strategy rightly recognizes that the character of warfare is changing due to the advent of a range of disruptive technologies.”

Navy’s Next Frigate: Revitalizing the Defense Industrial Base By Robert C. O'Brien & Jerry Hendrix, Defense One: “The United States has not been a global leader in shipbuilding for a generation. The new frigate program is an opportunity to bring new designs, new construction techniques, lower prices, and higher efficiency back to the U.S.shipbuilding industry.”

The Army’s Acquisition Reform Must Be Even BolderBy Daniel Gouré, RealClearDefense: ““I’m not interested in a linear progression into the future. That will end up in defeat on a future battlefield. If we think that if we just draw a straight line into the future and simply make incremental improvements to current systems, then we’re blowing smoke up our collective fourth point of contact …””

U.S. National Defence Strategy: A Wake-up Call for AustraliaByPaul Dibb, The Strategist: “As for reform of the department, there are lots of meaningless modern management words used about the need to ‘drive budget discipline and affordability to achieve solvency’ and ‘streamline rapid, iterative approaches from development to fielding’. But the fact remains that the Pentagon has for decades resisted introducing a culture of performance in which results and accountability really matter.”

Navy Pursuing Anti-Air Defense Missile for the F-35​By Joseph Trevithick & Tyler Rogoway, The WarZone: “The U.S. Navy has hired Orbital ATK, now part of Northrop Grumman, to begin formal development of a new missile that can suppress and destroy enemy air defense emitters, known as the the Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile-Extended Range, or AARGM-ER.”

RUSSIA: Serial Production of Russia's Deadliest Tank to Begin in 2020By Franz-Stefan Gady, The Diplomat: “Russia will begin serial production of the third-generation T-14 Armata main battle tank (MBT) in 2020 with the first batch of T-14s purportedly to be deployed to the country's Southern and Western military districts, a Russian defense industry source said in Moscow this week.”

Military 'Up or Out' Promotion System Outdated By Claudia Grisales, Stars and Stripes: “A panel of military experts and leaders urged lawmakers on Wednesday to revamp a woefully outdated officer promotion system that has plagued recruiting and retention efforts.”

Enlisted Education Must Be More Than Training By Kyle G. Phillips, Proceedings Magazine: “The Marine Corps has traditionally understood and executed training very well for enlisted personnel; however, it should explore opportunities to provide enlisted Marines with an education that emphasizes a deeper approach to learning in leadership, character development, and ethical decision-making.”

The Navy is asking Congress for more flexibility to recruit rewards for talent and promote to higher rank its officers to better compete in the career marketplace, the service’s personnel chief said Wednesday. - USNI News

China is aggressively pursuing capabilities such as anti-satellite (ASAT) weapons that could diminish the U.S. military’s reconnaissance, navigation and communications in case of war in the South China Sea or on the Korean Peninsula.

China has spent more than a decade exploring technology for interfering with foreign satellites. This pursuit of ASAT capabilities clearly indicates a desire to threaten U.S. space infrastructure, which the Chinese military may consider useful during the initial moments of a conventional conflict with the United States in what Beijing considers its region of influence.

But while China’s ASAT capabilities threaten U.S. assets in space, it’s still unclear how they fit into Chinese military doctrine, and how or in what instances they would be deployed. The U.S. also lacks a clear path for reining in the proliferation of these capabilities because of its own reliance on ballistic missile defense systems that are viewed similarly as potential ASAT weapons.

Speaking Monday at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a panel of experts responded to the findings of a report quantifying how defense spending cuts, enacted by the Budget Control Act of 2011, has caused a dramatic number of defense industry suppliers to leave the market while chilling industry’s research and development activities. - USNI

As of Feb. 1, the Defense Department is getting a new, stronger senior management position: the chief management officer. Thursday night, as the specter of a government shutdown hung over Washington, President Donald Trump announced his intention to nominate John Gibson, the current deputy chief management officer, to be the first to step into this new role. - Defense One

Anthony Cordesman writes: The problem is that the concepts, broad policy statements, and good intentions presented in the [ National Security Strategy] NSS and [National Defense Strategy] NDS do not come close to an actual strategy. - Center for Strategic and International Studies

Marcus Weisgerber writes: Just days into the U.S. government shutdown in 2013, several defense companies threatened to furlough thousands of their employees whose jobs were tied to federal facilities or projects that were curtailed. This year, that did not happen. - Defense One​Michaela Dodge writes: The Trump administration will release a new Nuclear Posture Review next month. It is expected to take a very different tack from that of the previous administration, which trumpeted its commitment to creating “a world without nuclear weapons.” And a different tack is sorely needed. - Heritage Foundation

It's time for the military to get its swagger backMackenzie Eaglen | RealClearDefense The Pentagon’s new strategy is expected to be released soon. The substance of the document is classified, but there is a growing consensus about how to grade it. It is past time for a new National Defense Strategy that seeks to break the mold in honesty, clarity, and fresh thinking. As an official articulation of Pentagon doctrine, this is an opportunity to mend the broken dialogue among the military, the government, and the people they serve.

NDS Prioritizes High-Tech Equipment, Acquisition Reforms By Jon Harper, National Defense Magazine: “The Pentagon’s new national defense strategy, an unclassified summary of which was released Jan. 19, prioritizes the procurement of high-end capabilities and streamlining business practices.”

Growing Submarine Threat in the Black Sea By George Vișan, Eurasia Daily Monitor: “In the four years that have passed since Russia annexed Crimea, the number of Russian submarines active in the Black Sea has grown from one to seven. These submarines pose a grave threat to the security of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) eastern flank.”

Baltics Steadily Grow Their Armies By Olevs Nikers, Eurasia Daily Monitor: “The biggest success for all three Baltic countries—Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia—last year was the arrival of the multinational battalion groups to the region, thus implementing the decisions reached at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) 2016 summit in Warsaw.”

Military Readiness Is Not a Bargaining Chip By Paul Cook, RealClearDefense: “Since 2011, the Budget Control Act (BCA), also known as “sequestration,” has arbitrarily underfunded the U.S. military. At the same time, our nation asked the men and women of our Armed Forces to do more around the globe, including missions in areas ravished by flooding and fires.”

Russia will create a state bank to service the defense sector, the finance ministry said on Thursday, after a tightening of U.S. sanctions heightened the risks for existing Russian lenders in handling defense deals. - Reuters

The Air Force's Future Operationally Resilient Ground Evolution By Sandra Erwin, Space News: “The project is called “future operationally resilient ground evolution,” or FORGE. It is part of a broader $173.5 million SBIRS modernization plan. And it is one of several projects where Air Force hopes to attract nontraditional vendors that can bring fresh ideas and cutting-edge products.”

Army Secretary Talks Vision for Modern War Fighter By Jen Judson, Defense News: “Esper’s past experience as a soldier both in the active force and reserves; his experience on Capitol Hill doling out policy advice for the House Armed Services Committee; several tours in the Pentagon; and his time as a vice president at Raytheon sets him up to offer a multifaceted perspective to the job at a time when the Army is undergoing major transformation.”

The Navy SEALs New High-Tech Gear By Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics: “Sharp-eyed observers have spotted U.S. Navy SEALs driving a new but familiar vehicle: modified versions of Yamaha personal watercraft. SEALs were also spotted using magnetic gear to scale the hull of a navy destroyer.”

CHINA: Has Xi Fully Consolidated His Power Over the Military? By Charlotte Gao, The Diplomat: “Recently, multiple signs have shown that Chinese President Xi Jinping, who also holds the positions of chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC) — the highest body that controls China’s military — and general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Central Committee, has further consolidated his power over Chinese military.”

Marine Corps to Cut Infantry Assaultman Job to Resource Other Roles By Hope Hodge Seck, Military.com: “The Marine Corps is doing away with its 0351 infantry assaultman military occupational specialty and phasing out the assault section of Marine rifle companies in an effort to build up communities such as cyber and electronic warfare, Military.com has learned.”

2018 Forecast: Can the Navy Say No?By Sydney Freedberg, Breaking Defense: “In 2017, the Navy and Marine Corps hit the wall, with an string of deadly accidents on the sea and in the air. In 2018, we’ll see whether the overstressed sea services start saying “no” to missions.”

Defense Spending Under a Continuing ResolutionFrom USNI News: “DoD has started the fiscal year under a CR for 13 of the past 17 years (FY2002-FY2018) and every year since FY2010. The amount of time DoD has operated under CR authorities during the fiscal year has increased in the past 9 years and equates to a total of more than 36 months since 2010.”Pentagon Surges Weapons Into Middle East Terror FightBy Jack Detsch, Al-Monitor: “Using a little-known U.S. legal authority established by Congress after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the Pentagon is doling out substantial arms packages to build up Jordan's and Lebanon’s air forces to take on terrorists from the air.”

Where Russian Information Warfare Is Failing By Bill Bray, Proceedings Magazine: “Given the news the past few years, one could be forgiven for concluding Vladimir Putin’s Russia is the world’s grand practitioner of information warfare.”

Chinese military analysts have claimed that China’s new hypersonic ballistic missile, the DF-17, could destroy U.S. defense systems by flying fast and low to evade detection. - Newsweek